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A newly released investigation of Thailand’s animal tourism industry has revealed severe animal abuse and exploitation.
The footage was taken by vegan charity PETA at Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm and Zoo.
Animal abuse
It shows elephants – including a baby – tethered by extremely short chains. It also reveals handlers jabbing the animals with sharp metal spikes to force them into giving rides and performing tricks, leaving them with bleeding wounds. Elephants are seen continuously swaying back and forth, a symptom of psychological distress, as a result of being unable to interact with each other.
According to PETA, its eyewitnesses found animals including a tiger, a chimpanzee, and an orangutan being used as photo props, and held in cramped cages between photos.
WARNING: Peta’s footage may be upsetting for some people
‘Violence and deprivation’
“The animals at this Thai zoo see nothing but concrete, chains, and cages,” says PETA Asia Vice President of International Campaigns Jason Baker.
“PETA is calling on travelers around the world to stay away from any facility that sentences wild animals to a miserable life of violence and deprivation.”
The investigation follows a major a National Geographic report exposing cruelty in the animal-tourism industry.
